Page 18 The Shoreline May 2005
Beacons Reach Resident
Rescues Carousel Horses
By Bob Ruggiero
Rich and
Judy Kelly came
to Beacons
Reach from
South
Hackensack,
New Jersey.
Rich was an
assistant
principal at Fort
Lee High School
and Judy was an
instructor at Dumont High School in the
Garden State.
Rich has a unique hobby that was
started while living in New Jersey. A
friend scavenged a miniature carousel
horse that needed quite a bit of repair and
painting and had been destined for a trash
bin. It was offered to the Kellys instead.
Judy tried her hand with the
refurbishment, but soon was
overwhelmed by the extensive repair the
project needed.
Rich
picked up the
rehab and
reported that
from start to
completion
the work on
the repair,
sanding, and
repainting
with a super
high glossy
paint required
22 to 23 hours of loving labor.
These miniature carousel horses
started life as a Wonder Horse children’s
toy. A child could sit and bounce as the
horses were mounted on a heavy spring.
After receiving the first horse from a
friend, word spread that the Kellys were
seeking other horses that needed repair.
The additional horses came from curb
trash, junkyards
or flea markets.
Rich tells me that
the high gloss
finish is a result
of utilizing
expensive
brushes that
minimize brush
strokes. Two
coats of paint are
applied and,
finally, a clear
coat of sealer. After completing the first
horse. Rich revised what had been a
wonderful and productive hobby and now
became a labor of love.
To completely finish one of these
splendid works of art requires much time
and dedication from start to finish. Rich
has finished 12 horses and has offered a
few to friends who have given him horses
that needed a complete makeover. He
has sold a few to friends that were painted
to color coordinate with the room in
which the horse would be displayed.
Rich took me up to the attic of his
house to show me six horses that either
were works in progress or others waiting
to be repaired. It was then that I
appreciated the total dedication and hard
labor that went into a project of this
nature.
As an aside, Rich told me that his son,
who owns a restaurant in New York that
features a finished carousel horse in the
front window, has been asked by diners
whether they could purchase the horse or
give out the name of the artist who
produced the glorious restoration. When
told by his son. Rich said, “No thanks.
This is a hobby and nothing more.”
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